Heart of Steel
by SundayWinterChild
Summary: A young scientist is abducted by the Decepticons in order to make a weapon for them, things, however don't go quite to plan.
1. Chapter 1

**Rachel**

Rachel Jones sat at her large mahogany desk, sipping a cup of strong black coffee while staring out the window of her second floor office. The day was bright, and warm which was unusual for a British summer. Most of the days that she got off work were wet and miserable, which suited her fine as it mirrored the state of her soul. However, today she longed to stand out in the sunshine and let the coldness that had pervaded her for so long drain away. Her green eyes slowly roamed over the distant landscape while her mind wandered and considered her life.

Rachel was only twenty-four yet she had already earned her doctorate in physics and was on a six figure salary from one of the world's top scientific research facilities. Although so many considered her successful, she was unhappy with the course her life had taken. At a very young age when she had began to exhibit her abilities, her parents decided that it would be best to push her along. "Pushed along" was perhaps too kind a phrase for what they had done, though. The space shuttle travels at a slower velocity than Rachel's education had done. There was a never ending parade of tutors, special classes and schools, summer "camps", and so on and so forth. Rachel understood why her parents had pushed her as hard as they had; they had struggled to get by on meagre wages and dead end jobs for so long and they had only wanted what was best for their daughter. Rachel had grown terribly bitter over the childhood that she had been denied. All the things that would normally go with growing up had never been hers.

She drank the last dregs of the bad coffee and put the cup down on her desk and ran her slender hands through her short purplish black hair and sighed. Really she needed to get back to work but couldn't tear her gaze from the skyline and her mind from her reveries. In an attempt to be normal, to feel alive, she had done some pretty crazy things. She had climbed mountains, rafted rivers, and hiked through deadly jungles. When that didn't work, she turned to more self-destructive behaviours and dabbled with drugs and drinking but got bored with it as well. Rachel then decided to work for an exclusive escort agency while in college. She found that she was remarkably good at it and enjoyed the control she had over the men, but the thrill of it soon wore off and she once again had become bored. Rachel continued to day dream when a soft knock was heard on her office door.

"Hmm? Oh, come in."

"Doctor Jones? They're just about ready for you." The young geeky looking lab assistant peered at her, excitedly. Rachel turned from the window to look at him, her green eyes flashing a warning.

"Do me a favour Jeff. Don't call me Doctor Jones. Just call me Rachel." Jeff was taken aback by this and didn't know how to respond. When he had been hired to work with Rachel he had been so excited. It wasn't every day you got to meet, much less work with, someone who was as brilliant as Doctor Jones was. Once he had accepted his position, he had heard all the rumours that surrounded her. How much of it was true he didn't know and had decided not to believe any of it. One thing had become apparent to him however, she did have a temper and if she asked you to do something, you did it, no questions asked.

"Uh, right, Rachel. Well, everything's set up and waiting for you."

"Thank you, I'll be there shortly."

Jeff gave her a weak smile and left her office. Rachel sighed. How tired she grew of the idol worshipping they did to her. Why couldn't they treat her like anyone else? She knew the answer to that already though, she wasn't like anyone else. With shoulders hunched and hands shoved into the pockets of her lab coat and trudged down the hall.

Rachel arrived in the laboratory ready to start the test. Today would be a defining moment in her career if everything went to plan. After many months of laborious research she was on the cusp of a breakthrough. A lot of the work Rachel did was for military contracts and this time they had handed her a difficult one. They had asked her to find a way to make a hand held electro-magnetic pulse weapon. She did relish the challenge that it brought to her, but at the same time she hated that it would inevitably be used for the wrong reasons. Finally after many sleepless nights she would prove it could be done.

"Right folks, get to your stations. Let's do this thing."

Everyone rushed to where they needed to be and manned various bits of equipment and monitors. Rachel started the experiment and hoped that they would soon have some results. One by one she checked with the others and asked for the data they had gathered so far. A cautious smile spread across her face.

"Right, let's let it run for a bit. Jeff, I want you to bring me updates hourly. I don't want to get my hopes up, but it looks like it's worked." Rachel ran her hand through her hair, as was her habit. She couldn't believe that it was working. Stunned, she went back to her office to start work on her findings. Time went by and Jeff had brought her a few reports, but she only half noticed him. Once again a gentle rap on her door grabbed her attention.

"Yes? Come in."

"Rachel? Here's the latest data. I can't believe it. I think you've actually pulled this off!" Jeff's soft brown eyes were shining with awe at her and he had a dopey grin on his face. In spite of what Jeff knew about her he couldn't help but being attracted to the unusually bright woman. He felt sorry for her a bit, she always seemed so lonely. Rachel looked up at him and gave him a small smile.

"Just all in the course of a day's work, Jeff, nothing more." She always undersold herself because she had very little faith in what she was capable of. For a moment, sadness crept into her eyes, but it was gone quickly. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Me? Oh, gosh, no. I should be asking you that question!" He could feel that he was turning red but decided to forge ahead, "Um, it's getting late and me and some of the others thought we'd go out and have a meal. You know, kind of celebrate today? I was, ah, just wondering if, um, you might want to come with me." He shifted uncomfortably and tried to read the expression on her face.

Rachel wasn't in the least surprised by his asking. She wasn't stupid and could tell that her assistant had a crush on her. She liked Jeff as well. He was kind and well mannered and although he held her in high esteem it didn't border on the worship that she received from some of the others in their academic circle.  
She smiled gently at him. "I've got so much left to do tonight. I think I'll give it a miss, if you don't mind. I'm not much good in groups anyway." There was heaviness in her heart as she really did wish to go. She was sure that it showed on her face and quickly put her usual mask back on. She felt so guilty because Jeff looked so disappointed.

"Oh, right then. Ok. Well, maybe another night then." He bid her farewell and turned to leave.

"Jeff?" He turned to look into her sad green eyes, "Maybe if you ask me again in a few days I'll be able to say yes." He smiled back at her and shook his head in agreement and left.

Rachel sighed again and turned to look out the window at the black night. She could clearly see her reflection in the glass. Rachel considered herself for a moment. She kept her hair fairly short because it saved her time in the morning. It was dyed black with a hint of purple in it. She had done this mainly to irritate her mother who was forever saying that she should stay her natural blonde. She wasn't over tall, but made up for it by wearing high-heeled shoes. Her figure was fairly curvy and she had noticed men gaping at her quite often. She ran her hands over her hips and stared off into the distance again, lost in her thoughts.

Suddenly she was knocked off balance when a large explosion was heard. It was quickly followed by smaller blasts that made the building shake, setting off alarms were all around the complex. With her heart racing she wondered what was happening and started to run from her office to try and find out, but it was too late. There was a flash of hot, white light and an explosion; her office window shattered into a million pieces and tore through her clothes and flesh. The blast had blown her to the floor where she could see her mahogany desk in splinters and the gaping hole in the wall. Right before she faded into unconsciousness she saw some large figures outside what had once been the window, their features hidden in darkness except their glowing red eyes. Rachel couldn't believe what she was seeing and blinked to try and clear her vision. Were they... robots? She could hear a cold, heartless laugh and felt terrified. Rachel made a few feeble attempts to crawl through the rubble of what had once been her office but was too weak and frightened to move quickly enough. Her fear increased when she was suddenly picked up by the largest of them as if she were nothing but a rag doll.

She found herself looking into the blazing optics of the giant robot that had picked her up.

"Oh, God, please no..." she whispered. The robot only smirked at her.

Then there was nothing but darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Caught Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea**

Rachel stirred slightly. Her head pounded and every inch of her ached and throbbed in agony. What had happened? It all seemed like a nightmare. That must have been it, she had dreamed it all. Rachel refused to open her eyes, but her other senses told her things were not right. She was lying on a hard cold metal slab and for a moment she panicked that she was in a morgue and had been mistaken for dead. The air was cold and damp and she began to shiver. Rachel listened to see if she could hear anything yet there was only a faint dripping sound. Finally she forced herself to open her eyes. The room was large and dark and sparsely furnished. There was machinery and things that she couldn't even begin to recognise. Her heart thundered in her chest as she worked up the courage to sit up and look around more only to find that she was in a cage that she couldn't escape from.

Her pain was still fairly intense, although most of it came from the numerous lacerations she had suffered. Her tattered clothes were bloodstained and she felt angry that her captors hadn't even taken the time to try and clean her up any. Rachel slid off the metal table to walk around her cage. Her teeth had started to chatter and she cursed the cold atmosphere that was seeping into her bones and pulled the remains of her lab coat around her for some warmth. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cold bars of her prison and started to softly weep. Rachel had never been so afraid in her whole life.

Rachel was startled by heavy footsteps outside in the hall. The large door opened and one of the robots stood menacingly, staring at her. He was blue with red optics and no mouth as such but what looked like a mask. She gasped and ran to the opposite side of the cage in an attempt to put as much space between her and it to no avail. She was once again caught and roughly picked up. She began to hit at the giant hand that held her and struggle but the robot only gripped her tighter.

"Who are you and what do you want with me? I demand that you tell me now!"

The robot stopped and lifted Rachel up to his face and spoke with a highly synthesized voice. "You are not in any position to make demands. You will find out what this is about soon enough."

Rachel continued to struggle against her captor but all she accomplished was to exhaust herself and to open some of her wounds again. Her fear got the better of her again and she began to cry, but there was no sympathy coming from the robot. They continued down the corridor and passed several others along the way, each one of them giving her disdainful looks. Rachel wished that she could curl up and just disappear. Soon they entered another large room where another robot stood with his back to them. He turned to face her and she recognized him as the one who had originally taken her from the office. The blue robot dropped her unceremoniously on the floor and Rachel crumpled as she landed.

"Well, how nice to see you awake. I had feared that you had been damaged beyond repair in the attack. I see you have met Soundwave." The huge silver robot motioned in the direction of the one who had brought her here and then returned his gaze back to her. Rachel shakily stood and managed to squeak out a reply to him.

"I am still hurting and my wounds need to be cleaned. Who are you? Why did you bring me here?"

He smirked at her some more before answering her. "I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. We come from a planet called Cybertron which we were forced to leave when it ran out of resources. Unfortunately for us and your miserable planet we ended up here. The war that started on our home world has now relocated and we are locked in battle with our enemy, the Autobots. We've brought you here because you are going to help us create an ultimate weapon to decimate them."

Rachel struggled to take this all in. Was any of this even possible? She jabbed at one of her deeper cuts to try and wake from this nightmare and found that she was definitely awake. Panic over took her and she bolted between the legs of Soundwave who made an ungainly grab for her. She shot through the door and skidded into the corridor and stopped momentarily to get her bearings then ran as hard as she could down the long hallway. She could hear Megatron raging behind her.

"Argh! Get her now!"

The sound of their feet furiously pounding against the floor grew louder and closer and Rachel made the mistake of looking behind her for a second to see how close they were. She came to an abrupt stop as she ran head long into the feet of yet another Decepticon. He quickly scooped her up and laughed at her with an abrasive voice.

"You puny human, why do you try to run from us?" He called out in a sarcastic voice, "Megatron, I've captured your little pet."

"For once you have managed to do something right, Starscream, even if it was by dumb luck." Megatron roughly grabbed Rachel from Starscream and looked down at her threateningly. "If you know what's best for you, you won't try anything like that again." He smiled condescendingly at her, "Besides, where would you go? You can't escape from here. We're on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean."

Rachel gaped at Megatron but continued to struggle against his overly tight grip. She was furious now and wanted to know exactly what they had in mind.

"And why do you think I can help you?"

"Well, Doctor Jones, we know that you've created an EMP generator." Megatron smirked at her, "And you will be making one for us."

Rachel stopped struggling and glared at him, "First off, do not call me Doctor. I hate that with an absolute passion. Secondly, I don't see why I should help you. You came and destroyed my office and have brought me here to this dank, dark lair of yours. For heaven's sake, you've put me in nothing more than a glorified hamster cage! There's no way I'd help you. Besides all that, what would you do once you had these Autobots defeated? I dare say you won't be ambassadors for world peace."

Megatron couldn't believe what he was hearing and dropped her to the ground. This tiny, weak fleshling dared to speak to him in such a manner? He aimed his fusion cannon at her.

"You dare to defy my order? Perhaps I should destroy you now? What do you have to say to that, Doctor?"

"Go ahead then, I'd welcome it." Rachel's eyes flashed at him and then she forced a harsh laugh. "You're stuck now, aren't you? Without me you can't make your weapon but I'm not afraid to die, so you really have no hold over me." She took great pleasure in seeing the expression of both shock and outrage on Megatron's face.

Megatron merely laughed his cruel laugh, "You make a point, however that is of little consequence to me. We have other ways of getting the information we need from you. I think perhaps a few sessions with Soundwave may just be what we need to learn everything you know."

The Decepticons then carried her back to her cage and left her alone. She still didn't fully understand why they wanted her. Obviously the Autobots were the same kind of life forms as the Decepticons and an EMP blast would effectively deactivate them, but the Decepticons would also suffer at the hands of the weapon. There were still so many questions to be answered, but she doubted that they would willingly tell her anything. As Rachel realized that she was trapped in this awful place and that there was no obvious escape she lay on the metal table that had served as her bed, curled into a ball, and shivered as she cried herself to sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Warped**

Rachel yelped loudly as a large finger poked her hard in the side. Her eyes flew open to find Starscream peering at her through the bars of the cage.

"Rise and shine."

"Bugger off." Rachel turned her back towards Starscream, which she soon found was a mistake as his hand flew into the cage and gripped her so tightly that she couldn't breath. He hissed at her in his screechy voice.

"I wouldn't speak to me that way, if I were you. Megatron may be unwilling to harm you but I am not."

Rachel whispered a defiant reply back at him, wishing to push him to breaking point in the hope that he would end her misery.

"And... killing me... would make you... a big... man?"

Starscream merely narrowed his optics and dropped her back into the cage. She took a huge breath and shook her head to clear the blackness that threatened to overcome her. He then placed some food and water and clothes next to her. Rachel's thirst and hunger came back with a vengeance and she flew at the meagre provisions and started to ravage the food, almost choking on it a few times. She could see Starscream's look of horror.

"Disgusting, absolutely disgusting."

Rachel didn't really care what he thought and with her mouth full she began to tell him so.

"If you lot hadn't starved me for the past two days then I wouldn't be wolfing this down like I am."

"I find humans are messy and generally disgusting."

"And I don't give a brass monkey's balls about what you think." With that she gathered up what little remained of her meal and carried it to the other side of the cage. She noticed that Starscream hadn't left the room, however, and that he was still watching her with a mixed look of loathing and fascination. Once she was finished she went back to the side of the prison where he stood, still staring at her.

"What? If you were so revolted by me why did you stay here and watch?"

"I have orders to take you to Soundwave once you're awake and cleaned up. Change your clothes and I'll take you to him." Starscream continued to glare at her.

"Right, well turn around then."

"What?" He was truly confused by this request.

"I said turn around. I find you guys creepy enough as it is. The last thing I really want is for you gawking at me while I'm undressed, so if you don't mind, turn your backside around for a few minutes."

Starscream still looked completely puzzled but did as Rachel asked. She went to the clothes and found that they were all too big for her but was impressed that they had supplied her with some water and a first aid kit. She carefully peeled her torn clothing off, being careful with the places where drying blood had stuck fabric to wounds. After a few minutes she stood naked in the cold room and her teeth started to chatter. It prompted her to quickly clean herself up and bandage the worst of her cuts. While doing this she decided to find out what was awaiting her.

"Hey, uh, Starscream?"

"What," he said in a bored voice, his back still to her.

"What is going to happen to me?" Starscream picked up on the fear that was creeping into Rachel's voice and turned to face the half dressed girl. Rachel scowled at him and quickly finished dressing. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she hated the way he looked at her even more than the other Decepticons; it made her feel uncomfortable and uneasy, as if she couldn't predict what he might do next. At the moment, however, he looked very pleased to tell her exactly what was going to happen.

"Soundwave has an uncanny ability to 'read minds' as it were. It's not a pleasant experience for a Cybertronian, but it's excruciating to a human." He smiled in a slimy fashion at her and she shivered. With that he started to reach for her.

"Hey! Couldn't I just walk this time? Why do you always have to carry me places? Besides, you seem to forget that I'm not made from metal. You should see where you guys have bruised me!"   
Rachel started to lift her shirt to show him the large purple, black and green bruises from overly aggressive grabs from the Decepticons.

"What do I care if you've been damaged? If I let you walk you would only try and run away."

"Yeah and where would that get me? No where. Give me a break, ok?"

"Fine, but be warned, if you try anything funny I will personally see to your demise."

Starscream led her down the hall to where Megatron and Soundwave were awaiting her and she followed him into the room. Megatron and Soundwave were having a discussion, which came to an abrupt stop as soon as they saw her. Rachel felt sick to her stomach and trembled. She could see what appeared to be a computer of some sort and another one of those miserable metal tables like the one she had to use for a bed.

"Put her on the table Starscream," Megatron ordered and Starscream went to pick Rachel up.

"Hey! What did I say about the whole picking up thing? If you don't mind I'll get up there myself, thank you!" She smacked at Starscream's hand.

Megatron felt angered by this human's constant struggle against them. He ignored what she had said and seized her roughly and put her on the table.

"You will do well to learn your place around here. Now, shall we begin?"

"No, we shall not, but somehow I don't think what I want is relevant to you, is it?"

Megatron's eyes gleamed with amusement, "No, it's not. Now if you are done we will begin." For a horrible fleshling she was actually a good source of entertainment.

She lay on the cold table, shaking more from fear than the temperature, when Soundwave begin to use his telepathic ability on her. She fought it as much as she could. Inside her mind she shouted and screamed, "No!" over and over. The pain of it was horrific and she felt as if her skull were going to split in two. Before long she felt a trickle on her upper lip; her nose had began to bleed. Oh how she wanted to scream but she didn't dare give them the satisfaction of it. Before long she quit trying to fight the intrusion into her thoughts and memories, which did lessen the pain somewhat, but not completely. Nothing was off limits; even the darkest moments of her life were there to be seen like an open book. She curled into a foetal position and sobbed uncontrollably and tried to plead with them.

"Please... oh please stop. Leave me alone, "she gasped.

Megatron ordered Soundwave to stop, "Are you willing to do as I ask?"

Rachel defiantly shook her head no.

"Very well then, continue Soundwave!" Megatron was shaking with fury. How could she continue to defy him? If he hadn't of needed her, he would have obliterated her right then and there.

Soundwave turned to Megatron, "I cannot continue. It will cause severe brain damage to go any further today. We would not be able to retrieve what we are after."

Rachel cried harder with relief now that it was over. Megatron swore at Soundwave and then grasped Rachel harshly. What little strength Rachel had had was gone and she lay limp against Megatron's curled fingers, eyeing him with contempt.

"So you think you've managed to escape then, do you? There's always tomorrow, and the day after and the day after that, Doctor Jones. I will get what I want from you! Here, return her to her prison, Starscream." And with that he shoved Rachel into Starscream's hand and stormed out of the room.

She looked up at Starscream with a mixed expression of relief, agony and exhaustion. He could feel her shaking in his hand like a scared bird and couldn't help but feel a small shred of pity for her. Starscream had been on the receiving end of Megatron's wrath more times than he cared to remember and knew it wasn't a pleasant experience. For once, instead of using a death grip, he gently cupped the fragile being in his hands and quietly returned her to the makeshift jail. She didn't speak or try to fight, which he knew was highly unusual. Starscream carefully laid her on the table in the cage, but she slowly slid down from it, curled up in a corner, and wept until she had fallen into an uneasy sleep, plagued by nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Never Ending Nightmare**

Starscream had stayed in the shadows of the room that night, watching the human. She had spoken in her sleep, cried and even screamed and he found it impossible to imagine what could cause such dreams. He watched as she shivered from the cold of the underwater base. He cursed himself. What was he doing? Compassion was something that he had never known before, so why now and why her? He worried that perhaps he was going soft in his old age. Shortly before she awoke, he left to retrieve her rations for the day. She never knew that he had been there at all.

Megatron poured over what Soundwave had found out the day before. He was pleased. They had the first part of what they wanted, the plans for the EMP generator, along with lots of other details of her insignificant life. It made for interesting reading, indeed. He decided that it would be best to play his cards close to his chest and continue with the telepathy sessions. The only other who knew what was found out was Soundwave and he would never speak a word of it to anyone.

Rachel awoke the next morning with such a severe headache that she felt ill and her limbs were stiff from sleeping on the floor. "I must get up and move around some," she thought to herself but gave up after a little while. What was the point anyway? Instead she decided to stay where she was. Before long she heard the door behind her open and the heavy steps on the floor. There was no need to look and see who it was, she already knew.

"Hello," she said in a flat tone, still not looking at Starscream.

"I've brought your food." He placed it next to her. She finally turned and he was shocked at what he saw. Her eyes had terrible dark circles under them and she hadn't cleaned herself up after the nosebleed the day before. The blood had been smeared on her chin and cheeks and dried there like some ghastly rouge. She forced a small smile at him.

"I don't feel too well today, if you can't tell." She dropped her head limply on her chest.

"Agree to help and you won't have to go through this again. Don't be a proud fool."

"No, I won't help. Not only would I be betraying myself, I would betray the whole world."

Starscream could think of no argument because she was right. Instead he urged her to eat and to get cleaned up.

"Huh, Megatron wants me looking my best before he has Soundwave bust my chops again? Forget it. He can take me as I am." With that she stood up, but soon found that she lacked the strength to keep standing and her knees buckled. She was angry with herself and her weakness and then looked imploringly at Starscream even though she knew there was no mercy there. She sighed and looked away from him; she didn't want him to see the tears starting to spill down her cheeks.

"Fine, take me to them. Ding Ding... Round two, coming up."

Starscream missed the boxing reference, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. He could tell that she was in no condition to walk so he carefully picked her up and carried her off to be tortured again. Rachel tried to nestle down into his palm as much as she could knowing that it was nothing but cold comfort. She dreaded what was coming.

This is how much of the next two weeks went for Rachel. Megatron took great pleasure in bringing up details of her sordid past and goading her. There was a sadistic gleam in his optics when he saw her features contort with agony, be it physical or mental, and if it was both, it was even better. He was determined to break her, but she continued to prove to be stubborn, continually defying his order. The telepathy was growing more agonizing the further Soundwave probed into her mind. Much to the disgust of the Decepticons, it often made her sick. There had been severe convulsions on at least two occasions and there was almost always a nosebleed. Her pride had given way and she would scream as loudly as she could and curse her captors. This was usually met with cold laughter from Megatron, while Starscream would merely look on in silence.

Rachel could tell her resolve was fading. She would try to hide from Starscream when he came to retrieve her in the mornings (or at least what she guessed was morning, it was impossible to tell at the bottom of the sea) knowing that it was in vain; where could she hide in a cage? At one time Rachel had not been afraid to talk back to the Decepticons, but now she grew more introverted and would now only stare at the floor while abuse was hurled at her. She wished often for death to come and take her away and even tried to push Megatron and Starscream to granting it to her by running from them or insulting them. Starscream had enough sense not to out of the fear of what Megatron would do to him. Megatron knew that death for her would just be an easy way out; besides, he was having too much fun toying with the human to finish her off. Too add to the deplorable state of affairs, her nightmares were getting worse. So much so that she refused to sleep most nights and the nights that she did sleep were broken at best. It soon became abundantly clear to Rachel why sleep deprivation was considered a torture; functioning with as little as an hour or two of sleep a day was nearly impossible. She couldn't think straight anymore and didn't care to. Rachel had started to refuse to eat and her once curvy figure was growing emaciated. Her cheekbones were prominent and her eyes had a sunken, haunted look to them. The already too large clothes were barely hanging on to her frame these days.

One day after a particularly brutal session in which she had convulsed so badly that she had bitten her tongue causing it to bleed profusely, Megatron was going over what Soundwave had found out. There was starting to be a lot of repetition, but today there was something new; something that had somehow managed to escape from Soundwave before today. Megatron smirked to himself and thought, "Finally, I know how to shatter what remains of your spirit and make you mine."


	5. Chapter 5

**What Lies Beneath**

Starscream had been given orders from Megatron to lead a strike. He felt irritated by this and questioned Megatron about the need of it.

"Why should we bother? What do you hope to gain from this?"

Megatron grew tired of Starscream's complaining but spelled it out to him, nonetheless.

"There's something that we need. Something that I believe will make our dear doctor change her mind and quickly." With that Megatron gave Starscream the information that he needed to carry out the raid and ordered him to leave immediately with Skywarp and Thundercracker. He figured that this would be an easy job, even for the Seekers. Megatron's anger grew when Starscream hesitated to leave.

"Have you suffered a malfunction?! I've given you an order and you are still standing here! Go now!"

Starscream hesitated and then said, "What about the girl?"

Megatron raised an optic ridge. "What about her?"

"She needs to be tended to." Starscream shifted uncomfortably, he knew that this would cause him no end of grief and he was right.

Megatron flew into a rage and his optics blazed. He picked Starscream up by his neck and lifted him off his feet. Megatron's face was twisted into a horrific snarl full of hate.

"Sympathy, kindness, pity," he sneered even more for the next word, "and love. These are human emotions and are not fitting for my second in command to demonstrate. These emotions lead to weakness and weaknesses can be exploited. Don't think I haven't noticed your little acts of generosity towards her. You would do well to remember that she is merely a means to an end and will be disposed of once her usefulness to me has finished. Now go and carry out your mission before I decide to terminate you." With that he threw Starscream aside and left the room.

Starscream glared after him and determined that Megatron would be sorry for what he had done. There was only one thing for it now; he would have to find a way to make sure Rachel did not meet her demise.

For two days Rachel was left alone. Not even Starscream came by with her usual rations, which to her surprise, she found that she missed his short visits. It was nice to have contact with someone, even if it was a giant robot who wished her dead. All she did in those two days was lie still and doze off and on and eventually fell into a deep sleep that for once was not full of terrifying nightmares; instead she found peace. She dreamed of the hot sun on her back. It felt wonderful and she could feel the warmth sinking into her bones and there was a summer breeze blowing over her body; for once she felt free. Then she woke with a start and the harsh reality of where she was hit her full force. Rachel didn't cry anymore, it was pointless. She merely pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself because in some small way it afforded her a sense of protection amongst these violent robots. She rested her head upon her knees, relishing the last remaining shreds of the dream she had just had when the door opened and in came Starscream. He carried with him the food and water that she had been denied while he was away.

"I didn't think anyone would come and see to you."

Rachel slowly picked at what had been brought to her, refusing to meet his gaze.

"No. There was no one."

There was a long silence between them when he reached into the cage and held out his hand. After Rachel had complained at great lengths at how painful it was to be carried about like a doll, this had become their custom. Rachel climbed into his palm and quickly nestled in. He could feel her slight weight and the warmth of her body and smiled to himself. He found it funny how she seemed to try and become invisible while hiding in his hand. Unbeknownst to Starscream she felt safest when sitting amongst his huge metal fingers, but then again, it usually meant that she was to be taken to something unpleasant. She started to shake violently.

"What's wrong?"

"You're going to take me to them. Aren't you?" Her face was white with terror at the prospect.

"No. You've not been sent for." He lifted her close to his face and watched her for a few minutes. She had stopped trembling and looked back at him, trying to fathom out his expression, but couldn't. He looked troubled, but she didn't dare ask. She figured she would find out before too long anyway. After a pause he asked her a question.

"Why do you hate your title? Humans put great stock in these things, yet you shun yours." His face held an expression of puzzlement.

She struggled to think why she had hated it; the ordeal she had been through had wreaked havoc with her mind. Finally the blank look on her face dissipated as her memory cleared and she remembered why.

"It wasn't what I chose; it was forced upon me. I never wanted my life to take the path that it did. I never wanted to be special in any way, but I was. Being called 'doctor' has always served as a reminder of the lack of control that I had of my own destiny. That is why I hate it."

"So what would you have chosen to do then?"

Rachel closed her eyes and smiled wistfully, "Music. I loved music. I would have loved to be a concert pianist, actually." She wiggled her long, slim fingers at him, as if to make a point.

He considered her for a few more minutes and then carefully put her back where she belonged.

"I have to go now." Starscream's actions betrayed his words though and he paused for a moment before leaving. He felt more determined than ever to make sure she survived, if for no other reason than to spite Megatron.

She watched as he left the room and wondered what he was playing at. He had shown a side of himself that she didn't even think existed, but Rachel wasn't stupid, she wasn't about to put blind faith in him. She had seen him fly into too many rages over silly things to put any real trust in him. As the day went on Rachel hoped that he would come back and keep her company, but he didn't return. She felt tired; that was about all she felt these days, tiredness. She decided to settle in for a sleep and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible and dozed off.

Starscream set to work in his lab and poured over schematics and designs until satisfied he had chosen what would work best. He pondered Rachel for a few minutes. What was it about her? In some way he felt that she was a kindred spirit, if that was even possible. They shared a mutual contempt of Megatron. The exchanges between Megatron and Rachel in the beginning very much echoed the untold number of arguments that he had had with the leader. There was the fact that she was a scientist as well. Starscream had spent many years researching and exploring and, even though he was now a warrior and enjoyed the hunt and the kill, he also still considered himself to be a mech of science and learning.

He was putting the finishing touches on his creation carefully, almost lovingly. Love. It was a foreign idea to Starscream and he was under no illusion that the odd friendship that he had with the human was love. He felt protective of her and hated to see her suffer, but he was sure that what he felt was more along the lines of how humans felt for their pets, not love.

He stood back and looked at the femme robot he had created. She was, of course, a Seeker. The faster she could fly the better; it would be necessary in the end. The femme stood slightly shorter than he was and he had given her a brilliant, almost regal, colour scheme of burgundy and gold. She bore no sigils, for sadly, he thought, she was not meant to join their ranks. Her lifeless face had fine features; delicate optic ridges and a narrow, slightly up turned nose with full lips. The only thing left to do were the optics. The standard red that the Decepticons had would not fit her. He chose, instead, a brilliant green, not unlike the green of Rachel's eyes.

Starscream took one final look and approved of what he had made. Unfortunately, he failed to notice Laserbeak hiding in the shadows. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Best Laid Plans**

A cold hard metal fist closed tightly around the soft flesh of the human. The sound of her scream was music to Megatron's ears and he squeezed her even tighter to see if he could make her scream again but was disappointed as she had passed out. How sick of her frailty he was becoming; the constant having to care for her and cater for her needs and the fact that Starscream had become distracted by her lately. What compelled him to care for her? As far as Megatron was concerned she was nothing more than a stepping stone to the Decepticons taking over this horrible planet. She was expendable. He carried her down the hall to another room and roughly roused her from her black out by shaking her.

"Wake up you miserable fleshling!"

Rachel roused from the blackness to see Megatron glaring at her. She struggled to free herself from his grip, but it was useless. He then dropped her to the floor. Rachel looked around and saw Starscream standing in the shadows and Soundwave was there as well. Megatron jabbed at her with his finger to get her attention.

"So you still won't help us, will you?"

"I most certainly will not. You will just have to kill me."

He smiled at her and said, "You welcome death too willingly. I won't kill you; you should know that by now."

There was something more sinister in his voice than usual and it put her on edge. Megatron motioned to Starscream and he came out of the shadows carrying a struggling form that was dumped on the floor next to Rachel. Her eyes widened in horror when she realized what was happening. For the first time in ages Rachel felt like bursting into tears as she saw the battered form of her assistant, Jeff, lying on the floor. Megatron was enjoying every second of it and he spoke to her in a soft but deadly voice.

"I believe you know who this is?"

Rachel's mouth was dry and she merely nodded.

"We found out something very interesting about you; something that you managed to keep hidden from Soundwave all this time." He sneered at her even more. "You're in love, aren't you?"

"Yes," she whispered and stared at the ground. Out of all the things that they had discovered about her, all her dirty little secrets, this was the one that she was the most horrified to have out. Rachel had always kept matters of the heart carefully guarded and she felt most violated by this discovery. She felt her cheeks start to turn red.

Although looking on passively Starscream felt a small spark of jealousy and was confused by it. He looked at the male sitting at his feet and felt very tempted to do away with him then and there, but decided against it.

Megatron picked Rachel up and held her close to his face.  
"If you do not do as I tell you, he will die." And he then pointed his fusion canon at Jeff. Rachel's eyes grew wider and she began to plead with Megatron.

"No, please don't! He has nothing to do with this. Let him go! I will do what you want, just don't hurt him, please!" With this she broke down in tears.

Jeff roused from his semi-conscious state and shouted up to Rachel, "Don't do it Rachel! You know what will happen if you help them!"

Rachel looked down at Jeff, the tears streaming down her face. He was right but she couldn't bear to seem him destroyed for the sake of her stubbornness. She quickly dried her tears (she wasn't about to give Megatron the satisfaction) and looked into Megatron's optics. "You can have what you want, but you have to let him go first and do it now." Rachel could hear Jeff's protests but ignored them.

Megatron turned to Starscream and laughed, "See Starscream? See what I told you about weaknesses being exploited? This girl is a prime example of it. " He then turned his optics back to Rachel and said, "We'll let him go as soon as you do as you promised. Think of it as insurance."

Rachel hung her head and said, "Fine, I'll give you the plans for the EMP weapon on your word that you'll let Jeff go."

Megatron laughed harder at her, "You foolish girl. Did you really think that we had not managed to obtain the plans from you already? We got them on the first day! It was just so much fun seeing you in agony that I had Soundwave continue. Besides, we finally found your breaking point, didn't we?"

Rachel's head snapped up and she glared at Megatron with hatred burning in her heart and she spat in his optic. Megatron roared with rage and threw her against the wall where she fell broken and bleeding. She tried to move but could not as her back and several of her bones were broken. A sickening wave of agony swept over her and she let out a muffled cry. Jeff screamed and tried to get over to her but was only hit back by Starscream and knocked out. He then rushed over to her but didn't dare move her. Rachel lay in a twisted heap and it was obvious that she had sustained massive injuries.

Starscream glared at Megatron and screeched, "You fool! Look at what you've done now! She will not be of any use to us dead!"

Megatron gave Starscream a smug grin, "It's of no consequence anyway, is it? Soundwave, why don't you bring in Starscream's little present for the dear doctor?"

Starscream turned quickly to face Megatron with a look of utter shock on his face. Soundwave left to retrieve the robot and Megatron turned back to Starscream. "Did you really think that I wouldn't find out your little scheme, Starscream? Just how did you think you would keep that quiet? And what of her; do you really think she would have willingly agreed to it?" He paused and with a glint in his optics and says, "I must admit, though, you did a fine piece of work."

"But, how did you know? I told no one! Not even her!"

"Starscream, you dolt, do you think that I actually trust you? I've had Laserbeak following you around for ages now. You've been so wrapped up with your concern for her that you never even noticed."

Soundwave carried in the lifeless femme and laid her on a table. From where Rachel lay on the floor and through the cloud of pain that surrounded her she could see what was going on. Her eyes rolled towards Starscream and she glared at him. How dare he! He was going to do the same thing to her that everyone else had and exert his own will over her.

"Well Starscream, I suppose since this is your handiwork you should do the honours." Megatron glowered at his second in command, just waiting for him to defy him. Much to his surprise, he did not. Instead he ever so carefully picked up the dying girl from the floor and carried her to another table.

Rachel managed a few words to him. "Don't do this! Just let me die."

A pang of sorrow went through him; he said nothing to her but looked at her with a look of regret. The blood that poured forth from her had stained his hands. There had been something he liked about having her so small and defenceless; now that time was about to pass. Rachel soon passed out from the loss of blood and the intense pain she was in and Starscream was thankful for that as he put her on a table near the robot he had created. He quickly attached both Rachel and the femme to a computer and began the process of transferring what was essentially Rachel into the lifeless bot. As Starscream worked Megatron gave one final order to Soundwave before leaving the room.

"Do away with the other human. We don't need him now."

Rachel stirred. Something was wrong. Her senses were sharper. She could hear every little noise more clearly than ever and although she could feel that it was cold it didn't seem to affect her as it once did. Her optics activated and she was in darkness, however, this proved to not be a problem as her new eyes switched to a night scope mode. All the pain that she had been in just a few short moments before had passed. Carefully she began to sit up to look and see where she was. She was in the same room as before and as she looked to her right, panic flashed through her circuits.

There beside her laid her now lifeless body. 


	7. Chapter 7

**New Skin**

Rachel slowly rose from the table and walked over to what was once her. It was such a surreal moment as she looked down on the small broken form before her. With her now large fingers she reached out and carefully picked the body up. What a sad sight Rachel had become! In the time that she had been with the Decepticons she had no way of seeing her reflection and was stunned by her appearance. This poor empty shell looked like it belonged to someone who had been in a Nazi concentration camp. While she struggled to process what had just happened to her, Starscream entered the room and gently touched her shoulder. It took Rachel a long time to register the touch and she eventually set the corpse down and turned to Starscream with a look of confusion and sadness.

"Why? Why did you do this to me?"

"I saved you."

"I didn't want to be saved." The rage Rachel was feeling began to surface.

"If you hadn't been a fool and forced Megatron's hand then you would not be in this state." He pointed to the body and a flicker of impatience flashed through him.

For once Rachel felt that she could actually stand up for herself and relished the feeling. "Oh really? Well it seems to me that you had planned on this all along! What were you going to do? Knock me out? Force me to do it? What was the big idea here?" She then pushed Starscream hard enough to make him stumble back a bit.

His optics narrowed and he hissed at her, "You are starting to step over lines that should not be crossed. This was going to be the only way to make sure you survived this. Your weak fleshly body was going to give out before too long, wasn't it? Look at it! I am surprised you lasted as long as you did. Once you had gotten free of here I had every intention of putting you back into your human body, but you had to push things as far as you could. Now, come with me, Megatron wishes to see you."

Hearing this knocked all the wind out of Rachel's sails and the feeling of finally beginning to turn the tables on her captors faded quickly. Starscream escorted her through the corridors and would shove the barrel of his null ray hard against her back of she slowed or paused for too long. After this happening a few more times she stopped and turned to face him, her arms folded across her chest.

"Do you mind not doing that, please? It really hurts."

"Never mind that, I suggest you keep moving or else I will fire upon you." They glared at one another for a few seconds before he levelled his weapon at her head. "Now move!"

Rachel turned on her heel and marched on to where Megatron waited for them.

"Welcome Doctor Jones, how do you feel now?" Megatron gave her a cold smile and she refused to answer him.

"You still insist on defying me, do you? Very well then!" He powered up his fusion cannon and shot her in the arm, the force of it spinning her like a top and knocking her to the ground. "When you were a human I wouldn't have dared do that to you, although I very much wanted to. Now that you are no longer in that weak body I can punish you for your insolence. Now, stand!"

The pain of the shot to her arm was excruciating but she obeyed Megatron's command and took a few steps towards him and glared at him.

"What about our deal? If I help you will you let Jeff go?"

Megatron's optics narrowed and he laughed cruelly at her.

"Didn't you realize that once you were put in your new body that contract became null and void? We no longer needed him. He's been terminated."

Rachel struggled to comprehend what she had just been told and when it sunk in she flew at Megatron screaming the whole way

"I'll kill you! You promised me!"

He merely stood with his hands on his hips while she punched and pummelled him. After a few minutes he grabbed her chin and forced her to look into his optics. She struggled to pull away but he only held tighter.

"You think you would be able to kill me? With what would you accomplish that? You weren't even given any weapons to defend yourself with. I suggest that you step away from me now or else you will be joining your lover boy."

Rachel dropped her gaze and backed away from Megatron because she knew he was right. She had learned the hard way that it was foolish pushing him too far; the end result would be disastrous.

"For once, you see sense. Now, on to what I really wanted to discuss with you. We still want our weapon, as you may have guessed."

She refused to meet Megatron's optics and simply muttered, "Of course you do, but you seem to not see a problem with your plan. The EMP blast will effectively decommission you too."

"You underestimate me, Doctor; I did anticipate that little flaw in the plan. That's why we need you to find a way to shield us from the effects of the weapon. Now, I want you to go with Starscream and get started, or else."

Rachel continued to stare at the floor and slightly shook her head yes and was then roughly ushered out the door by Starscream. 


	8. Chapter 8

**The Dragon's Den**

In silence Starscream and Rachel walked though the halls, the only sound was of their heavy feet upon the metal floor. Rachel was lost in her thoughts, trying to make sense of everything that had happened to her up to that point, but failed miserably. Her train of thought was broken when Starscream finally spoke to her.

"You're name no longer suits you. You need a new one."

Rachel was indignant over this suggestion and voiced her opinion, "Great, first you take away my body and then killed the only person I ever loved. Now you want to take what little I have left of my humanity away as well. Thanks a lot."

Starscream rolled his optics, "It's just that 'Rachel' doesn't fit your new form."

She shrugged and refused to admit he was right but she knew he was. "Fine, whatever you want. What do you suggest then?"

He stopped and looked at her for a few seconds, although he already knew what to call her. "I think Goldenwing would suit you much better."

She looked at him and laughed bitterly. "Rather poetic coming from you. Fine then, if that's what you think it should be, so be it."

They finally arrived at the door to Starscream's quarters where he entered the security code and pushed Goldenwing inside. Once inside she was astonished at what she saw; instead of seeing a sparsely furnished room it was just the opposite. There were works of art everywhere, many books, antiques and artefacts. It was obvious to Goldenwing that Starscream's tastes were far more refined than your average Decepticon and with a bemused look and a raised optic ridge she turned to Starscream.

"And here I was, under the impression that you hated humans."

"I do, but I'm fascinated by the customs. I spent many years exploring the galaxy and never found another civilization like yours. For some reason, humans with their primitive brains have managed to create the most diverse culture. Art, science, music, and many other areas, have a nearly unlimited variety of forms and styles. It gives Earth a richness that many other planets do not possess."

"And Megatron doesn't mind you keeping this stuff? I would have thought that he wouldn't exactly be thrilled with your little shrine to humanity."

Starscream's optics narrowed, "It's not a 'shrine' and it's none of Megatron's business. He has no appreciation for the finer things in life, be it here on Earth or on Cybertron."

Goldenwing was still puzzled by all of it. "I still don't see how you can like what we have to offer but you hate the ones who create it. Besides, after a while anyway, you never really seemed to hate me."

He refused to look at her, "You were different. Come along, we aren't here to discuss the finer points of the human condition, we're here to work."

He then led her through another doorway to the lab. Goldenwing's optics opened wide in amazement. In all the time she worked for different research facilities she had never seen a lab so well organized or equipped. Starscream noticed the look on her face.

"Impressive, isn't it? A far cry above what you were used to, I'm sure," he said with a smug grin.

"Well, yes, it is. I've always dreamed of working in a place like this. Of course, you do have an advantage though. You are obviously far more technologically advanced than we are on Earth."

He merely nodded in agreement and then took her on a brief tour of the large room and the numerous items it contained. She fired question after question at him about the equipment that she had never seen. Once finished he lead her back into the living quarters.

"I have some other duties that I must see to at the moment, so I suggest you recharge. We will commence work on the EMP weapon and the shields tomorrow." He showed her the recharge bed and she couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Starscream heard her and saw the smirk on her face and turned on her.

"What do you find so amusing?"

Goldenwing tried with all her might to not burst into laughter, but she couldn't hold back. Through her laughing she managed to say, "It's just that, you're a giant killer robot and you've got black satin pillows?!" With this she laughed even harder.

Starscream growled at her, "You have never had to sleep with these things!" Indicating his shoulder vents. "You try sleeping with your head banging around all night and see how long you last! You should be grateful that I showed you some kindness in giving you a slightly different build from mine and that you won't have the same problem."

Goldenwing managed to get herself back under control somewhat and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, I never even considered it."

"No, I should think not." The look on his face was one of indignation.

Suddenly Goldenwing's mood changed, "Yeah, well, you could have at least spared me a couple while I was stuck in the hamster cage, you know!" She felt very angry at the thought of him having some comfort while she suffered as she had.

"You know very well that I couldn't have done that. If I had and Megatron found out about it, well, let's just say it would have been most unpleasant."

Her optics narrowed, "Most unpleasant for you, you mean."

Starscream refused to answer that and turned for the door. "As I said, I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow will be a very long day for us both."

He left the room and locked it so Goldenwing couldn't escape.

She walked around the room studying the different things that adorned the shelves. He had everything from paintings by Picasso to clay tablets with ancient writing. There was a vast library, which she had to chuckle about again, "How does he even manage to read them? They're too tiny for him to hold!" There were numerous ancient weapons, which she found very appropriate. Samurai swords featured prominently in the display and she was taken aback that such a deadly weapon could be so aesthetically pleasing. Eventually she sat on the edge of the recharge bed uncomfortably. She felt like an intruder here in Starscream's private sanctuary. In the time that she had known him it had never crossed her mind that there could be such depth hidden behind the strident, ambivalent attitude he seemed to have towards most things.

Slowly, she lay herself down and made herself comfortable. She laughed to herself as she gathered the satin pillows about herself, imagining him doing much the same. With a small, contented smile, she fell into a deep sleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Hiccoughs**

Starscream had returned from gathering some of the materials they would need to carry out their work. He looked at the damage and scoring on his wing that he had received during the raids and cursed. Blasted Autobots! They seemed to favour taking shots at him instead of trying to take out Megatron. The only thing that Starscream knew at this point was that he desperately wanted to recharge and repair himself. He continued to grumble as he entered his quarters and shuffled through the dark room. Just as he was about to fall into his recharge bed he remembered Goldenwing and stopped short before he fell on top of her. He peered into the darkness and could make out her sleeping form and complained to himself yet again about having to share his quarters with her, although one would be hard pressed to believe him as he had a large grin on his face. After watching her for a few moments he then sighed and went to retrieve some Energon cubes for her and sat them on a table nearby. Still grumbling he went into the lab to begin work on the new weapon and fix his damaged wing.

Goldenwing woke feeling refreshed. She stretched and discovered that she felt hungry; however it was a different kind of hunger to what she had known as a human. Looking around she saw the Energon cubes glowing a faint purple in the dim room and instinctively began to drink them. Sadly for Goldenwing no one had explained to her that you couldn't just guzzle the stuff down. The Energon quickly hit her system and she soon felt dizzy and quickly moved on to being drunk. The taste of it was wonderful, almost sweet and it compelled her to drink more deeply. Once she had finished the first cube she shrugged and figured to hell with it and quickly drank down the other. Fighting back a fit of giggles she looked around the room and decided to go the lab. 

Starscream's optics widened when he saw Goldenwing come stumbling in.

"What have you done?"

She smiled widely at him, "Oh, nothing. I didn't know you guys could get drunk!" She started laughing uncontrollably. Starscream sighed in exasperation.

"Why did you drink the Energon so quickly? Now you've over energized and we can't get to work."

She looked annoyed, "Well, bright boy, someone didn't tell me that you have to sip it like tea, did they? You seem to forget that I've not always been a robot!" Goldenwing then stumbled back into the other room in a sulk.

Starscream put down what he had been working on and went to check on her and muttered to himself, "Blasted femme! She's going to end up being more trouble than she's worth in the end."

He found her sitting on the edge of the recharge bed with her head in her hands, looking sorry for herself. She looked up at him sorrowfully and then her expression changed to one of rage. With a growl she flew up off the bed and went to attack Starscream, yet in her inebriated state she tripped over her own feet and fell forward. Starscream broke her fall and righted her. After another giggling fit Goldenwing's expression changed yet again and her green optics shone brightly up at him with a slight smile on her lips. Before Starscream could see what was going to happen she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him and kissed him. He pushed her away quickly.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

Goldenwing looked startled by his response to her but she merely smiled at him and tried to go for him again, however he's ready for her and keeps her at arms length, trying his hardest not to laugh at her.

"I think it's fair to say that you've had way too much to drink."

She says to him in a dusky voice, "Perhaps. Perhaps not." Her optics continue to gaze up at Starscream and she struggles to get close to him again. Starscream smirks at her and fights to keep her away.

"As much as I like having the femmes after me I don't think it would be very fair of me to take advantage of you while you're in this state, do you?" Although, if he were being completely honest with himself, he had to admit that he was sorely tempted.

Goldenwing smiled at him sweetly and before she can even mutter an answer, she passed out in his arms. Starscream shakes his head and laughs as he carefully lays her down on the floor. He puts a couple of pillows under her head and then happily collapses into his recharge bed for a much deserved rest.

"Ugh... What happened?" Goldenwing's optics open to find herself on the floor. Her processors felt a bit frazzled and she slowly raised herself up off the ground. What had she done? With a slow realization, it began to come back to her and she groaned to herself.

"Oh, no, I didn't try and do what I think I tried to, did I?" She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed as she stood up and gave a shy glance over to the sleeping Starscream and felt a tingling in her circuitry. She shook her head and rushed into the lab and told herself, "Oh don't you dare! This is the same guy who wanted to kill you a few short weeks ago. Don't be suckered. As soon as the weapon's finished he'll probably go ahead and kill you."

To get her mind on a different track she began to work on schematics and theories for the EMP shield because it was going to prove to be the trickiest. As was typical of her, she became lost in her own little world and took no notice of anything else around her as she worked and never heard Starscream enter the lab.

"Finally decided to take things seriously and start working?" He teased her.

Goldenwing jumped at the sound of his voice and she turned to look at him, "Um, yes, I thought it would be a good idea. I can't imagine Megatron being terribly patient."

"You would imagine correctly."

"Right, well, then here's what I've come up with so far." She nervously pushed her diagrams and her scribbles towards him and he looked through them. He looked pleased overall and then began to question some of her equations. The debate went on for ages and Goldenwing found it refreshing. When she had just been Rachel it was a nightmare dealing with others. They couldn't understand her complex reasoning and she would spend an inordinate amount of time just explaining what was to her quite simple things. Starscream grasped everything and was able to take what she had worked out and even managed to improve upon it. Once the details were finalized she sighed and looked sad.

"What's wrong now?" Starscream was growing tired of her constant mood swings.

"It's nothing. It's just a shame that we work so well together."

"Isn't that a good thing?" He was truly perplexed by her thinking now.

"No, it's not. I'm not a fool. I know that once this is done you'll be ordered to finish me off."

"Come with me." He grabbed her arm.

"Where to?" She felt nervous about this and dug her heels in.

Starscream sighed, "I think it's time to teach you how to fly, don't you?" 


	10. Chapter 10

A New Way to Fly

Optimus Prime sat in front of Teletraan-1 with a worried look on his face. He rubbed his optic ridge and sat deep in thought. What exactly were the Decepticons up to? They had staged two raids upon the research facility and abducted two people. Sadly, though, both bodies had washed up on the shore a few days ago. For the male death had come mercifully and swiftly by means of a broken neck. For the girl, however, it was a different matter all together. Her poor battered body was a sad sight even for Optimus Prime who had seen so many die, both bot and human alike, at the merciless hands of the Decepticons.

He sighed. Optimus had learned all he could about the two. Rachel Jones had been a brilliant scientist but the other Jeff Adams, while well educated and quite intelligent himself, had been nothing more than her assistant. He could understand why they took her; no doubt her knowledge was of great value to them, but the assistant? It didn't make sense. He continued to stare up at the blank screen of Teletraan, hoping for an answer, but the screen remained blank. While staring off into space and considering things Bumblebee had come into the room.

"Hey Optimus, heard you wanted to speak to me?"

It took a moment for Bumblebee's presence to register with Prime. "Oh, yes. I wanted you to report on the raids that the Decepticons have been executing." That was something else that bothered him. Megatron seemed to be intent on stockpiling certain materials lately. Wire, special insulation, metals; the list went on. In fact, their raids on energy sources that might be converted into Energon had nearly become non-existent.

"Well, they seem to be slowing down some now. Last week they carried out four raids. This week there's only been one. I don't know if that's a good thing or not."

"No, it probably isn't a good sign. Do you know if Powerglide has seen anything on his recon trips?"

"No, he's not reported anything unusual. If anything, apart from the raids, Starscream and his buddies seem to be keeping a low profile just as of late. What do you think it all means, Optimus?"

Optimus shrugged his large shoulders, "I don't know for sure Bumblebee, but knowing Megatron it's bad news for us in the long run. You can go. If any of you hear anything let me know."

"Right Optimus, will do."

Bumblebee left the room and Prime went back to trying to make sense of what was going on.

Goldenwing looked at Starscream with a gaping mouth.

"You… you what?"

"I'm going to teach you to fly now."

"Ah, no, that's ok. I'm fine here."

He scowled at her, "Come along! Now!" He pushed her hard and she stumbled into the corridor. He whispered to her conspiratorially, "Follow me, quietly. If anyone asks what we are doing, don't answer them. I'll do the talking."

She nodded numbly at him, "Uh, right. Ok."

Following close behind Starscream, they made their way through the underwater base and passed several of the other Decepticons. Invariably they fell into two camps. There were those who would leer at her and then those who would make disgusted comments about her existence. It seemed to take ages to twist and turn through the maze of corridors.

They passed by Rumble and Frenzy who stood arguing in the hall. Rumble punched Frenzy in the arm, "Huh, look at that, will ya? Looks like ol 'Screamer's got himself a girlfriend and not a half bad lookin' one at that!" Frenzy howled with laughter and added, "Yeah, stupid jerk had to go and make himself one though. Can't imagine any femme putting up with him for too long." Starscream struggled to control his temper but managed to. He merely gave them a low growl and shot both of them a filthy, withering look, which made them scurry off to complete whatever task they had been given.

Goldenwing felt incredibly vulnerable with all the stares. She had spent enough time with the Decepticons to know that they were not well known for their impulse control and if something took their fancy, they acted upon it. There was no doubt in her mind that if one of them had decided to kill her there and then, they would and she shuddered at the thought.

They rounded a corner and ran headlong into Skywarp and Thundercracker. Both of them gave Goldenwing the once over and smiled with wicked gleam in their optics. Starscream did his best to stay between them and Goldenwing, however Skywarp ignored this and pushed his way past.

"So Starscream, you going to introduce your little friend to us?" Skywarp looked down at her and she trembled a bit.

"No, I had no intention of letting you two cretins anywhere near her."

Skywarp looked at Starscream with a look of amusement, "Oh, really? A bit possessive, aren't you? I mean, surely it would be nice of you to share your toy, don't you think?"

Thundercracker decided to join in and crowded near to Goldenwing as well. When Starscream wasn't looking he ran his fingers lightly over one of her wings and it felt as if an electric shock went through her. She gasped and her optics widened and she glared at the blue Seeker. Starscream turned to see what was going on and that was when the anger he felt finally broke free from the strangle hold he had on it. Starscream went for Thundercracker, knocked him to the ground and aimed his null ray at him. With a deadly hiss he warned off both of them.

"If I see either one of you within a mile of her I will see to it that you cease to function immediately! Is that understood!" his optics blazed and his face was twisted into an awful grimace. Thundercracker scrambled to his feet and Skywarp backed off.

"Hey, uh, TC, what was it we had to go do? Didn't Dirge need some help with something?"

Thundercracker looked puzzled by what Skywarp was saying, "Huh? What are you on about? Oh, yeah! Yeah, come on, let's get out of here." The two Seekers gave their commander wary looks and rushed off down the hall away from them. Goldenwing was dazed and trembled while struggling to take in air. Her Energon pump rushed wildly. Starscream grabbed her arm and she snapped her optics to his.

"Why on earth did you let them anywhere near me!"

"I didn't know that we would run into them. Sorry."

"Never mind what you'll do to them. I'll kill them if they ever try that again. What the hell is wrong with them? They act as if they've never seen a woman before!"

He quietly answered her, "They have, it's just been a long time."

With that Starscream actually looked a bit embarrassed and refused to look at her anymore. Realizing that she had touched on an iffy topic she quickly changed directions.

"Right, I thought you were going to teach me how to fly?"

Starscream seemed to brighten a little bit with this and he finally ushered her into the lift to the surface of the ocean. Goldenwing was looking forward to being out of the stale air of the base and into the fresh, clean air above and the warm sunshine. The lift slowly climbed but the closer they got to the surface however, the more her mood changed for the worse. Starscream sensed the change in her.

"What is bothering you now?" He asked in exasperation.

"I have a confession to make." He looked at her with a quizzical look. "I am deathly afraid of flying."

"You what?! You must be kidding me!" Starscream looked as if he wanted either to throttle her or to laugh at her.

"It's not funny! I just cannot stand to fly. I hate not being in control."

"Do you realize how stupid that statement is now? You hate not being in control. Think about it! You are no longer at the mercy of a pilot or the plane because you are the pilot and the plane now. You choose where to go, how fast, how slow, so on and so forth. You are now the mistress of the air; you are no longer like a feather tossed upon the wind, going where it takes you. You control it." His face took on a sublime quality during his little speech and Goldenwing couldn't help but feel excited by the new possibilities. They were quiet for a time and all the sudden Starscream grabbed for her and opened an access panel in her chest.

"Hey! Get off me!" She slapped at him yet he insisted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Stop it! Stop hitting me! I'm doing you a favour!"

"Yeah, nice one, get your mitts off me!"

She shoved him away and he growled at her, "If you don't let me turn your transponder off Megatron will know that I've taken you out of the base!"

"Oh, I didn't know. You should warn me before you do something like that again." She tried to look a bit superior, but failed. Instead of apologizing she allowed Starscream to turn off the transponder.

Shortly after their little scuffle they reached the surface. The doors slid open and the smell and the spray of the ocean assaulted them. It took a moment for Goldenwing's optics to adjust to the blazing sun. She then turned to Starscream with a faltering grin.

He rolled his optics. "What is it now!"

She chuckled slightly and her grin grew wider. "Well, you forgot one more thing. I don't know how to transform."

Starscream groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. His patience was running very thin now and he snapped at her.

"Well it's easy enough for idiots like Skywarp and Thundercracker. I'm sure you and your brilliant mind could figure it out!" In a huff he transformed and flew away from her.

"Oh, yeah, thanks a lot! Great, now what do I do?"

She stood and considered the matter for a bit. Where did all her parts go? Was it a conscious thing or did it just kind of happen? For all her thinking she failed to realize that her shape was changing. Wings, nosecone, tail planes, slowly came together in their appropriate places and no longer did a robot stand there, but an F-15 Eagle. Goldenwing had been transformed for well over a minute before she realized what had happened and she let out an ecstatic shout when she noticed that she had done it. Starscream had kept an eye on her from the sky and was pleased at how quickly she figured it out. For a first attempt it wasn't bad. He called to her on a closed comlink.

"Now all you have to do is fly."

After a brief hesitation her engines roared to life and she took to the skies almost instinctively. All her fear and apprehension faded as she soared higher and faster. Goldenwing laughed wildly all the while. Starscream smiled to himself as it was the first time he had seen her truly happy. He led her on a chase, which was a bit unfair as he was much faster then she was but she tried as hard as she could to keep up with him. The feel of the wind rushing past her was exhilarating, better than any of the things she had done while human, in fact. They soared as high as they could; they did terrifying dives for the ocean below, barrel rolls, and tight turns. He showed her nearly every manoeuvre he knew and although she was unable to do all of them, she kept pace with him.

Their speed slowed to a leisurely pace and they skimmed low in the sky. Not a word was spoken between them during all of this; they just enjoyed the freedom of flying. Slowly the sun began to sink into the vast ocean and the sky took on the hues of a child's crayon box. Purples, reds, oranges and pinks mixed with the hazy clouds and blue of the sky. Twilight approached and the first stars appeared. Reluctantly Starscream turned to head back.

"Do we have to go back?" Goldenwing asked with sadness in her voice.

"You know we do."

"Yes, I know." She laughed lightly, "Race ya?"

Starscream smirked to himself, "Of course!"

Both jets streaked back to the base as quickly as they could, although, just this once, Starscream let her win.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's Note:** I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read my story up to this point. This is the first fan fiction I have ever written. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or favorited it! Have homemade cookies as a thank you!!! I'm always happy to hear what you think! _

_Transformers are owned by Hasbro, not me grumbles. Goldenwing, however, is mine. _

_Now, before we get on to the next chapter, let me warn you, there's some robot nookie coming up, so, if you don't like that kind of thing, you may want to skip this chapter. If you do, well, enjoy!_

**Sparks**

During the descent back to the base, neither of them spoke. Starscream watched Goldenwing out of the corner of his optics and smirked to himself at the change in her. There was a quiet confidence about her and she seemed to be extremely relaxed. Leaning back against the wall, her optics shut and a wide grin slowly spread across her face. He listened to her turbines whir as she caught her breath. In all truth, the scene was somewhat alluring and there was a small voice in his processor that kept urging him to take her then and there. He merely shook his head to clear his mind and sighed; it wouldn't do to get attached to her. Megatron had given Starscream his orders and it was implicitly understood that once their work was finished, she was to be terminated. Goldenwing's optics finally opened and she looked at Starscream for a moment.

"Better than sex," she said breathlessly.

Starscream was startled by the turn of phrase and looked at her with shock on his face. Although he had been on Earth a while and was fairly familiar with human sayings, this particular one threw him.

"What do you mean?"

She smiled wickedly at him, "What? Have you never heard that before?" She gently teased him. "No, I suppose you wouldn't know what it means, would you? All I'm getting at is that I really enjoyed myself."

"I see." He raised an optic ridge at her and she smirked as she drew close to him. In a coquettish fashion she turned her head up to kiss him.

"I think I may regret what I've done in the long run if this is how you are going to behave now."

Right before their lips met she whispered, "Oh, I doubt that you'll regret it."

"I think he will!"

Both Goldenwing and Starscream turned to face the voice they both dreaded and saw the glowering countenance of Megatron, his optics blazing, and fury plainly written on his face for both to see. Thundercracker and Skywarp, who had smug expressions on their faces, flanked him. It was abundantly obvious to Starscream that his two wing-mates had gone and tattled like two spoiled children who hadn't gotten their way. He growled at them and gave them each a death stare. In return, they simply looked more self-satisfied with what they had done. Goldenwing tried her best to press back against a wall and become invisible, but it wasn't working. Skywarp grabbed her roughly by one arm and Thundercracker grabbed the other. She tried to fight against them but it was useless since the long flying session had exhausted her and she was growing weaker by the moment.

"I gave you very clear orders that she was not to be taken out of the base!" Megatron poked Starscream in the chest.

"But, Megatron, we… I…" Starscream struggled to come up with an explanation that would satisfy Megatron.

"Silence you fool!"

"It was I!" Goldenwing shouted, unsure of what Megatron might do next. "I wouldn't leave him alone to take me out because I had been cooped up here for weeks and I couldn't continue on. I was making mistakes, my concentration was horrible and I refused to work any more until he took me to the surface." For all her fear she tried her best to put a defiant look on her face.

Megatron glared at her and spoke over his shoulder to Starscream, "Is this true?"

"Yes, Mighty Megatron, she had become unbearable." Starscream felt a bit of composure coming back to him.

Megatron continued to stare at Goldenwing, "Very well then. Thundercracker, Skywarp, return her to Starscream's quarters. I will deal with Starscream." He turned and grabbed Starscream by the scruff of his neck and roughly ushered him down the hall, berating him the whole time.

Goldenwing watched for a just a moment before the two Seekers started to drag her down the hall. The whole time they chuckled at her and she could feel their fingers sweeping over her wings. The more she struggled the more tightly they held to her and the more aggressive the touching became. Slowly it dawned on her that there was more their touches than she originally thought and she felt more and more angry with them. Their groping became even worse, their fingers starting to find more and more sensitive places on her body. As much as she hated it, a small groan escaped from her lips. Thundercracker and Skywarp seemed to take this as an invitation to push things further and begin to work their fingers under her armour, reaching for wires and tickling them. She moaned again and felt warmth starting to spread through her system. Resisting the feeling as much as she could she made a final show of strength and pulled away from them.

"Stop it! Get off of me! Leave me alone!" She glowered at them.

Skywarp laughed at her, "Did you hear that? She says she wants us to stop."

Thundercracker leered at her, "Wasn't what it sounded like to me."

Both Seekers sneered at her and went to grab her again but Goldenwing made a run for it, knowing that she wasn't far from Starscream's quarters. Her feet slipped and scrabbled on the floor and she fell over. Skywarp and Thundercracker's shouts were growing louder while she tried to get back to her feet. Just as she was about to sprint away again Skywarp made a lunge for her legs and knocked her back to the ground and pinned her down. Thundercracker soon arrived and the two begin their attack on her with renewed vigour. She wanted to scream but fear kept her vocal processor from working. She merely closed her optics and waited for the worst. Next thing she knew she heard shouts and weapon fire and she cautiously opened her optics to see Starscream tearing into them and pulling them away from her then quickly firing his null ray and stunning them both. He quickly scooped Goldenwing off the floor and rushing her to the safety of his quarters, locking the door behind them.

"Slagging fools! Megatron knew they would try something! Why else would he have let them take you away?" He quickly, but roughly, turns her around to look her over, checking for any damage and finds none. He sighs and steps back from her and she finally has a chance to look at him and gasps.

"Never mind me! What did Megatron do to you?"

"Nothing unusual. He quite often gives me a good beating when he feels I've stepped out of line, which happens more than I care to admit." Starscream storms angrily to the lab to start his repairs with Goldenwing following closely.

"Starscream let me help you."

He had sat down and started working on the most obvious injuries, grumbling about Megatron, Skywarp and Thundercracker and hadn't heard her. She gently rested her hand on his arm, "Starscream, I want to help you."

He jumped at her touch and looked up into her softly illuminated emerald optics. Her expression was one of concern for him; it was something that he wasn't used to. Looks of contempt, rage and hatred were usually all he received. The look she gave him went straight to his spark and he merely nodded in agreement. Her hands gently moved over the dents, scratches and the damage inflicted from the fusion cannon, all the while whispering about how poorly he had been treated and for such a silly matter as well. Starscream slumped slightly as he relaxed more and more, with the odd hiss or wince when she touched a sore spot. His optics closed as she finished the work but flew open quickly when he felt a different sensation.

Goldenwing slowly ran her fingers over the edges of his wings, teasingly, and it took him by surprise.

"And just what do you think you are doing?" He asked with a smirk playing on his lips.

"What does it feel like I'm doing?" She whispered to him. He quickly stood and turned to face her and saw that the expression on her face was one of hunger and desire. Gazing into her optics made him feel like he was drowning. Gently he tipped her chin up and pressed his lips to hers, giving her a long, slow, smouldering kiss which she happily reciprocated. He could feel her shudder and she pressed herself against him, her hands slowly stroking his canopy, which caused him to break the kiss. He smirked down at her, grabbed her roughly by the waist and put her up on a workbench. Goldenwing laughed seductively and smiling wickedly at him she caressed his intake vents, which caused him to give a low, satisfying moan. Starscream begin to kiss her fervently while gently teasing exposed wiring and she gasped, arching her back slightly, pressing her own canopy against him. His lips trailed over her jaw and down her neck where he licked and nibbled until he could hear her struggling to catch her breath. He worked his way back to her lips giving her another lingering kiss. Suddenly, without warning, she pushed him away and held him at arms length. He looked at her quizzically, not understanding what was happening. With a devilish smile she jumped down off the workbench and walked away from him and into the other room. Starscream's processor was going mad and he struggled to try and figure out what to do next. Did he follow her or not? Soon he felt angry and ran into the other room to find her standing there with her hands on her hips, still with the same smile on her face.

"No one, my dear, walks away from me." He purred to her in a low voice.

She laughed lightly, "Oh, no? I did. So what are you going to do about it?"

Starscream's optics narrowed; he still didn't fully understand. Was this a human game of some sort? Femmes never did this kind of thing to him, well, not that he gave them the chance to, anyway. She continued to smile at him in that maddening way. Moving quickly, he went to her, grabbed her by the waist again and pulled her hard against him with a sardonic smile he answered her.

"I'll show you exactly what I'm going to do about it." He lifted her up and roughly dropped her on the recharge bed. She gasped with surprise and delight. Starscream pinned her down by sitting squarely over her hips and his hands held her wings down, leaving her arms free. Her fingertips slowly explored his body, working under armour, tracing joints, touching wires. Each time she found a sensitive spot he gasped with pleasure. Slowly he leaned down to her face to kiss her, pulling away teasingly when she would lift her head to meet his lips. After doing this several times she finally grabbed his head firmly and pulled him to her for a deep kiss, his hands roaming freely over her wings. Once again he trailed kisses over her neck and he whispered to her in a strange, foreign language that Goldenwing could only assume was his native tongue. It sounded strange, almost reminiscent of the sound of a computer modem, trilling, falling and rising, but she loved the way it sounded in her sensor. Coming from Starscream it was like the sweetest music and she shuddered with each sound of it.

Slowly they rolled over and Goldenwing now sat atop Starscream and her lips and tongue worked their way over his intakes and he shuddered and groaned with each touch. She smiled to herself; feeling quite pleased with what she was doing to him. Slowly she worked her way down and licked and kissed his canopy and he arched his back in response. Goldenwing could feel the same warmth that she had felt earlier that day working its way through her system again, her breath coming in small gasps. Starscream watched her for a moment and then sent his spark energy into her. She cried out in ecstasy and in response to it she did the same to Starscream. His optics shut as he came closer to overload and he grabbed Goldenwing and held her tightly, their energies mingling, growing stronger. He smirked at Goldenwing as he pushed her over the edge to overload. Her optics shut as her systems were hit with the surge of it, her internal sensors flashed warnings through her processor as she reached the peak of it. Starscream let the feeling wash over him, a slight hum passing his lips. He managed to open his optics for a few seconds to see Goldenwing; her head had fallen back and she looked completely oblivious to everything. The sight of it was more than he could stand and he overloaded in a spectacular fashion. Goldenwing fell forward over Starscream as she went offline and he managed to slowly wrap his arms around her as everything went dark for him as well.


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: Once again, I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who has read/favourited/reviewed my story! I'm always happy to hear suggestions. I have to apologize, as this chapter is a bit short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!_

_As always, Transformers belong to Hasbro, not me._

* * *

**The Cold Light of Day**

Goldenwing awoke from a deep recharge cycle somewhat disoriented. Her optics opened and she realized that she was where she had been when she went offline, lying across the chest of the still recharging Starscream with his arms wrapped tightly around her. She laid her head back down for a few moments, her fingers tracing over Starscream's canopy while her mind ran through the events of the previous day. Turning her head so her chin rested upon his canopy she gazed up at him and laughed to herself. There was a boyish charm to Starscream's face and always looked so sure of himself. However Goldenwing knew that a lot of it was a show. Gently she ran her finger along his jaw and sighed. When she had been brought here by force all those weeks ago she couldn't have imagined any of what had befallen her, especially this. Although a part of her was happy about what had happened, there were nagging doubts playing at the back of her mind. After a little while longer she reluctantly extricated herself from Starscream's arms and with a heavy sigh made her way to the lab.

One by one, Starscream could feel his systems starting up, yet he kept his optics shut. As he went over and over the memories of the night before and how exquisite it had all been, a smirk spread across his lips. Slowly, however, the realization came that Goldenwing was no longer in his bed and his smirk soon turned to a scowl. This was something that had never happened to him before. Usually the femmes he bedded begged to stay or he left them once they had slipped into recharge. Starscream always held the upper hand, and he hated when someone got one over on him. As he contemplated it, his annoyance at the situation grew and the scowl became a deep frown. By the time he made his way into the lab he was nearly in a rage, but the sight of her made that ebb away into nothing. He quietly watched her work, her head bent and her fingers working deftly with wiring and small components. Silently he came up behind her and ran his hands over her wings. Goldenwing jumped slightly at his touch and Starscream's scowl was replaced by his trademark smirk as he purred to her.

"I was most upset to not find you beside me when I woke." He continued to tease her wings and could feel her slump slightly. Taking this as an invitation to continue he lightly brushed his lips against her air intakes and he could hear her gasp. "Come back to bed with me, I promise you won't be disappointed."

Goldenwing leaned back against Starscream and closed her optics, fighting against what she was feeling. Part of her wanted to give in to him, yet another part of her knew she shouldn't. Finally her rational side won out and she stood to look at Starscream with a sad smile.

"Starscream, what happened last night…"

"Was incredible." He pulled her close and kissed her. Once again she fought against the desire to just let him lead her back to bed. Instead she managed to break the kiss and pull away from him.

"No, Starscream. It shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake, and I'm sorry that I started it." She looked at the floor in shame. Starscream's optics narrowed and he lifted her chin and studied her face.

"You're lying." A frown once again settled on his face.

A flash of dread went through Goldenwing. He was right, she was lying, but things couldn't continue. She pulled her chin away and took a few steps back.

"There is no point in us pretending that everything is fine and that… that…"

"Go on."

"And that Megatron hasn't ordered my death." Her face fell and her optics turned down to the floor again. Starscream's expression was unreadable as he considered what she had said, the bad thing about it though was she was right. There was very little he could do about the situation and was unsure about how to comfort her. He watched her for a moment and opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it. Her voice was low and steady, but it sounded forced.

"I suggest we focus on getting the weapon finished. Then we let the chips fall where they may."

Starscream felt something strange in his processor, a pain of some sort, but pushed it aside. He nodded at her, "If that is what you want."

Goldenwing frowned. What she wanted was standing right before her. What she wanted was the thrill and the danger that she had been living with. What she wanted was Starscream, but she knew that she couldn't have him. Instead, she nodded back, "I think that is what is for the best."

He crossed his arms across his chest, "Very well then."

The next few days passed quickly and quietly. Starscream and Goldenwing said very little to one another and what they did say was short and sweet. Goldenwing would secretly watch Starscream when his back was turned and she ached to tell him how she really felt for him. Since telling him that everything had been a mistake his attitude to her had changed. He was now brusque and even harsh with her. He had struck her a couple of times when she hadn't worked fast enough or refused to do something his way. The arrogance that was always there was there ten-fold now. For Starscream, it was now a matter of self-preservation. He had been foolish enough to let his guard down and let her become familiar with him. He berated himself, Megatron's voice ringing in his head, "Weaknesses can be exploited, Starscream." How right he had been. To see the hurt in Goldenwing's optics when he threatened her or mistreated her was not easy to ignore, but it was something he had to do if he were to get through this. Being so close to her was nearly unbearable and had relocated to different quarters until the weapon was finished, allowing Goldenwing to stay where she was. Then the day came that they both had been dreading. The weapon and the shield were complete.

Goldenwing laughed bitterly, "I suppose Megatron needs to be told."

Starscream stared off into nothingness, "Yes, I suppose so. I will go."

He looked at Goldenwing as he left the lab and sighed at the sight of her. Starscream's head bowed as he made his way to see Megatron. He thought of Goldenwing and thought, with a touch of surprise, for one who was going to meet their death soon, she was oddly calm.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Author's Note**: Well, we're nearing the end here of my little saga. I want to say thanks again for all the kind words I have gotten. It's meant a lot to me to know that I've written something that people enjoy! As always, I'm happy to answer any questions and happy for reviews._

_Transformers belong to Hasbro. _

_Although I wish with all my heart that I could at least own Starscream. ;-)_

* * *

**Death Watch**

Goldenwing sat in the lab, waiting for Starscream's return, knowing that when he did it would signal the end of her life. Oddly, she felt at peace with this, which surprised her. When she had merely been Rachel the thought of her own death seemed to cross her mind quite often, and many of the riskier things she had partaken in had, upon reflection, had been an open challenge for death to come and take her. It never had and she was still here, even if it was in the form of a robot. She stood and walked around the lab and eventually made her way back into Starscream's quarters. Looking around she contemplated him and all the intricacies of who he was. She felt certain that he had allowed her to see parts of himself that no other had. "Why?" She thought bitterly, cursing him for it. It had been in those moments when he let his defences down to show his true nature to her that made her fall in love with him. Yes, Goldenwing could finally admit it to herself, she had fallen for him and ever single inch of her wanted nothing more than to stay with him, but Megatron's orders had been abundantly clear. Starscream, although he hated Megatron with a passion, would carry those orders out not because he would really want to, he had hinted at that, but simply because to not carry them out would probably mean the end of his own life, which Goldenwing realized sadly, meant a lot more to him than she probably did. He was a creature of habit, and his habits had long since included looking out for number one, himself. It was understandable. The Decepticons were not kind or caring or compassionate in any way. It was very much dog eat dog and if you couldn't find a way to survive in that, well, life wasn't worth living anyway. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Then she began to consider what she had been asked to do for them. It was growing abundantly clear that if Megatron got his way and managed to obliterate the Autobots, humans stood very little chance of fighting against his tyranny. Although she knew relatively nothing of the Autobots, it was plain to her that they were the polar opposites of the Decepticons. At least if they were alive there was some chance of withstanding an assault from Megatron and his troops. Megatron was power hungry and longed to rule over the planet and drain it of its resources. With the EMP weapon he would be able to hold everything and everyone hostage and get exactly what he wanted. Goldenwing's anger started to grow into rage. How could she idly stand by and allow them to do it? With a new determination she ran back into the lab.

"Fine, if I am to be a part of Megatron's master plan to take over Earth, so be it. I won't go out without a fight though. I refuse to let Megatron have everything his wicked heart desires!"

* * *

Starscream stood before Megatron. He cringed at the pleased sneer of his leader.

"Well done, Starscream. I didn't think you would be able to get her to cooperate so fully."

"It was a challenge, but she relented in the end."

Megatron's optics gleamed wickedly, "Have you finished her off?"

Starscream shifted uncomfortably, "No. Not yet."

"And why? You had your orders to kill her as soon as the work was complete. You have failed me yet again Starscream!" Megatron begin to power up his fusion cannon and his anger boiled inside. This idiot, Starscream! Always testing him, never fully loyal to him!

"But Mighty Megatron," Starscream began to cower, "I thought perhaps we could have her join our ranks! She could prove to be more useful to us than she already has!"

Megatron smirked at Starscream, "You fool. Don't you think I know what has been going on between you two?" Megatron mocked, "'She could be useful to us'! You liar. You mean she could be useful to you!" Megatron shot Starscream in the leg. The pain was intense, but he refused to give Megatron the satisfaction of yelling about it and merely grunted and glared at his leader. Megatron powered up his cannon again and pointed it at Starscream's head. "I suggest you go and carry out the rest of your orders or else I will be sure that your only use will be for spare parts!"

Starscream continued to glare at Megatron, "Yes, Mighty Megatron." He slinked out of the room and then made his way to the engineering department on the lowest level of the base.

* * *

Goldenwing had made the adjustments quickly. It was a fairly simple change anyway. Now, when the EMP weapon was fired, it would create a feedback loop within its circuits and eventually overload, destroying it. As for the shield, she had knocked its ability to protect back by half. So although the Decepticons wouldn't be fully destroyed from the blast, they would be heavily damaged. She smiled to herself at her handiwork. At least her death wasn't going to be in vain. She then went and sat on the edge of Starscream's bed, waiting for his return.

* * *

Starscream quickly worked his way around the engineering deck, grumbling the whole time about Megatron and what a fool he was. Fortunately there was no one down in the engineering section to hear him or see what he was doing or else he would have probably been taken straight back to Megatron. One by one he set the timers on the bombs. Megatron never could see the bigger picture, hell; he struggled to see past the end of his nose most of the time! Who was he to deny Starscream some comfort in this life? Who was he to decide the fate of so many? Of course Megatron would be more than happy to remind Starscream of exactly who he was; he was the leader of the Decepticons, and that gave him the right to do just about whatever he pleased. Starscream scowled, if Megatron thought that he would order him to send Goldenwing to her death without a fight, than he was sorely mistaken.

Finally the last timer had been set and he looked around the room as he left. The detonators would go off in about an hour. He smirked to himself and quickly returned to his quarters.

* * *

Goldenwing had lost track of time and settled down on the recharge bed for a nap, once again piling the pillows around her. She figured that she might as well spend her last few moments in some comfort. Drifting in and out of recharge she dreamed of her past and dreamed of her present. She dreamed of Starscream.

Starscream entered his room to find Goldenwing asleep. He watched her for a few moments, sadness filling him. Never again would he see her or hear her voice. Silently he went to her, leaned over and gave her a tender kiss. Her optics opened and she gave him a sweet but sad smile. "Is it time?" Starscream said nothing but took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"What is it? Don't drag it out. If you have to do it, just do it."

"I won't be killing you. I don't care what Megatron says. I refuse to do it."

"But you can't! He'll kill you instead!" Goldenwing's optics widened.

"You're going to escape from here, and soon."

"How?" She still didn't see where this was going and watched as he removed one of his null ray cannons from his arm and handed it to her.

"Here, take this."

Goldenwing did as she was told, confusion written plainly on her face.

"Now listen to me carefully." Starscream gazed into her emerald optics, "In a short while there will be an explosion. When that happens nearly everyone will be ordered to go see what has happened. A minute or so after that, I want you to shoot me."

"No!" She shook her head vehemently, "I won't do it!"

Starscream grabbed her arms and shook her slightly, "If you want to live you will do as I tell you. It won't kill me, it will just knock me offline for a while. With the distraction you will have plenty of time to escape. Now here, I am giving you the coordinates for the Autobot's base. Once you reach the surface you are to fly there as fast as you can. They will pick up on your signature as being Decepticon; so don't be surprised to have a welcoming committee waiting for you. Tell them who you were and what happened. Prime is a sucker for a sob story and will take you in." While telling her all this Starscream attached the cannon to her arm. She stood, opened mouthed and stunned, slowly shaking her head no.

Finally she managed to speak, "No, I don't want to go!"

"Are you mad? If you stay here you will die. You have no choice." As soon as the words were out of his mouth a series of explosions rocked the base. It made Goldenwing flinch, but Starscream never took his optics from hers. He soon heard Megatron barking orders over the comlink. "Now, Goldenwing, you must do it now."

She numbly stared up at him, shaking, and confusion slowing her processor. In desperation she placed her hands on either side of his helmet and kissed him one final time. His first reaction to push her away, she was wasting valuable time, but he soon wrapped his arms around her tightly, and returned the kiss. Goldenwing then stopped and rested her forehead against his chest and whispered, "Starscream, I love you."

He sighed and turned her face up to look at her again. "No, you don't. Now do what you have to do."

Reluctantly she aimed for Starscream and cried out when she fired upon him. The shot caused him to fall heavily to the floor in a heap. She watched him for a second and then dashed from his quarters and to the lift to the surface.

As Starscream began to go offline he whispered, "Goodbye, Goldenwing. I love you too."


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: Finally! After much headwalling and shouting at myself I finally got a new chapter up for you! I hope you enjoy it and as always reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks to all of you who have done so.

I, unfortunately, do not own anything. Transformers are the property of Hasbro.

* * *

"_I must escape."_

The moment Goldenwing ran from Starscream's quarters this single thought had consumed her processor to the point of it being an infinite loop. Over and over it rang through her head, spurring her to run faster through the corridors. She could hear the shouts of the other Decepticons echoing throughout the compound, Megatron's voice ringing out loud and clear over the others. A shudder went through her at the thought of what he would do to her if she were caught. Left, right, straight ahead, her processor had instantly remembered the way to the lift from the day Starscream had taught her how to fly. Silently she did her best to slip through the maze of hallways like a cat trying to catch its intended prey off guard. There! She saw her goal, just a few feet ahead of her. Nearly there…

"Stop!"

A chill went through her and she slowed momentarily. She couldn't mistake that synthesized voice even if she wanted to; Soundwave was behind her. The panic that had threatened to over take her earlier started to curl its cold fingers around her spark making her reactions less than perfect. Goldenwing stumbled and nearly fell, recovering at the last moment and making a dive for the lift. As she waited for the doors to slide open, she backed against the wall and aimed the null ray that Starscream had given her at Soundwave.

"Back off you bastard!"

Soundwave's face was unreadable, as usual, but he did stop for a moment. That moment, however, was a short lived one as he reached up to his tape-deck buttons and spoke a simple phrase that sent chills down her back.

"Ravage, eject."

The minion flew from Soundwave's chest, transforming as he tumbled through the air and landed just short of Goldenwing, snarling and gnashing his teeth. Terror took charge of her and froze her servos and hydraulics, turning her into a statue. Ravage snarled once again and locked his blood red optics on her emerald ones for a second before the hulking metallic jaguar sprang into the air to close the gap. However he received a surprise when Goldenwing was finally able to put a strangle hold on her fear and shot him point blank with the null ray. He fell to the floor limply, offline. Without giving Soundwave a chance to release one of his other pets, she quickly slid into the lift and started to the surface. Soundwave opened a comlink to some of the other Seekers.

"Thrust, Ramjet, Dirge, capture the prisoner."

Dirge answered in his morose voice, "Yes, sir."

The three cone head Seekers left where the others were still trying to stem the flow of seawater in the engineering deck and headed purposefully to another lift and made the ascent to the surface to bag their quarry. All three had leers on their faces and they chuckled darkly. It had been far too long since they had enjoyed a fresh kill.

* * *

Starscream awoke to stare into the optics of a livid Megatron. The Decepticon leader had grabbed him by his throat once again and lifted him up off his feet. It irritated Starscream no end that he continually did this to him. If Megatron thought that it frightened him, he was sorely mistaken. Starscream glared back into the face of Megatron.

"Where is she Starscream?"

"She tricked me Megatron! When I came back from meeting with you she attacked me with a rudimentary weapon she had constructed and then disabled me enough to be able to steal one of my cannons! Look!" He feebly lifted his arm up as if to prove a point. "She then fired upon me with my own null ray and knocked me unconscious."

"Is that so, Starscream?" Just as Megatron was about to begin beating the truth from Starscream, he received a call from Soundwave.

"Megatron, the femme has escaped. Dirge, Ramjet and Thrust are in pursuit."

His expression that had been full of rage, twisted into one of sheer hatred. The sheer insolence of Starscream was unimaginable. Megatron's optics burned into Starscream's as he opened a comlink with the other three Seekers.

"Show her no mercy. Fire upon her, kill her, and tear her to shreds. I want nothing left of her, is that understood?" Dirge answered in the affirmative.

Starscream listened to Megatron and fought to keep his expression passive, although his processor was screaming for him to find a way to save her. He had no choice but to stay where he was and take his punishment.

Megatron's attention was once more returned to Starscream when he began to plead again in his usual whiney, raspy screech.

"After she had attacked me there was an explosion and that is when she left."

Megatron's face went from a hateful snarl to an even more frightening look of amusement.

"Oh Starscream, you fool." He threw him against a wall (yet another tactic that Starscream grew tired of) and stood over him. "If things happened just as you have said, you would not have known about the explosion because you would have been knocked offline by that point in time!"

Starscream's optics narrowed and he sneered back at Megatron, "Yes, Megatron, you've found me out. I've been lying to you the whole time. It was I who set the charges. I gave her my weapon. It was I who set her free!" His sneer turned to a smirk and growled, "All of it just to spite you."

Megatron growled, grabbed Starscream by the neck and dragged him off down the hall.

"You will pay for your insolence Starscream, and you will suffer greatly for it."

* * *

Goldenwing flew as fast as she could, constantly checking her current coordinates with those of the Autobot base. Every minute that passed the more confident she felt that she was actually going to be able to make it. Her thoughts on the matter changed rapidly when shots were fired across her nose. Feeling as if something had taken control of her as she began to go through evasive manoeuvres. Dipping, diving, rolling and ducking to the sides she managed to keep the three Seekers off of her.

Now if she could only keep it up until she could get to the Autobots.

Red Alert sat watching the radars. The Decepticons had been much too quiet for his liking lately. He knew that there would be trouble. There was always some kind of trouble of one sort or the other. The question was when would it happen. As if on cue a loud alarm sounded from the console he was sitting at. Red Alert grumbled to himself, "I knew there would be trouble. There's always trouble!" He looked at the radars again and then radioed Prime.

"Optimus, I've detected four Decepticons heading our way. ETA in half an hour."

"Do you know who it is?"

"No sir. But I'm certain that it's some of the jets considering the speed they are travelling."

"Thank you Red."

Optimus sighed heavily; he did not like this news. After careful consideration he radioed Silverbolt.

"Silverbolt, I need you and the Aerialbots to intercept some Decepticons."

"Yes sir, right on it." Silverbolt turned to his wing mates, "Come on guys, let's get going!"

Silverbolt, Air Raid, Fireflight, Slingshot, and Skydive all ran from the base, transformed and streaked off to meet the Decepticons.

* * *

Goldenwing screamed in fear and frustration. The few evasive manoeuvres Starscream had taught her had been exhausted and her systems were crying out for rest and energon. Her reserves were nearly exhausted and her pursuers knew it. All three of them sustained their assault upon her, laughing coldly at her screams and desperate attempts to escape. Ramjet, true to his name, had made several attempts at knocking her from the sky by colliding with her in midair. Dirge's droning engines kept her in a constant state of fear and panic. He hoped that it would a cause her to make a mistake. Thrust made sure to continually bombard her with a barrage of insults, oaths and tales of doom.

"Why do you run from us, femme? We've promised Megatron a trophy and thought your head would be perfect." This was quickly followed by, "Starscream must have only created you with one thing in his processor because you are an inferior flyer."

The team effort was working; Goldenwing was feeling hopeless and exhausted from this chase, but she was not to the point of giving up. She pushed harder and faster, every second she flew she grew closer to the Autobots.

* * *

Optimus Prime had joined Red Alert in the control room to watch events unfold.

"Optimus, sir, their flight pattern seems to be, well, odd."

"What do you mean Red?"

"It's all over the place. They aren't flying in formation and they aren't travelling in a straight line. They don't seem to have any particular destination. Look." Red Alert pointed at the radar, "Watch this blip here. See? It flies off at a tangent and then the other three seem to chase it."

Optimus watched as time and time again it happened. He rubbed his brow in contemplation. What was going on? The Seekers weren't always the most organized group of fliers, but there were so many things that struck him as odd on this particular occasion. First of all, there were four of them. Although there were technically six Seekers, they tended to stay in their own sub-groups. In other words, Starscream, Skywarp and Thunder stayed in their group and Dirge, Thrust and Ramjet kept in their own group. It was highly unusual for one of the groups to splinter and join the other. The second thing that worried Optimus was the fact that they seem so disorganized and had no real target. That could make them more dangerous than usual.

"We'll keep watching for now and see what happens."

"Yes sir, Optimus."

* * *

"Come on guys, let's hurry up and get those jets!" Silverbolt called to his wing mates.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're on our way," came the dry reply from Air Raid.

"So what do you think they're up to now?" Asked Fireflight.

Silverbolt considered the question, "No idea. That's why we need to hurry!" With that he shot ahead of the others.

Slingshot grumbled, "Those Decepticons just don't know when to quit do they? They've always got to try and pull some kind of stunt, don't they?"

Skydive laughed, "They wouldn't be Decepticons if they didn't!"

* * *

Goldenwing gasped as a shot grazed her and sent searing pain through her frame. In an attempt to calm herself and bolster her flagging resolve she admonished herself.

_"No, no, no, no! I will not give up! I've been through too much to die here and now!"_

Static crackled in her audios and she began picking up snatches of comm chatter. Her energon pump skipped a few beats as her spirits soared.

"This is Goldenwing, calling the Autobots! I need assistance immediately!"

After a short wait came the sweetest sound she had heard in a long time.

"This is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. How can we assist you?"


End file.
